Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Moonshine

"Two Georgia men pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of operating a moonshine still in the Chattahoochee National Forest. One of the bootleggers faces up to 35 years in prison for his crimes: making the brew, selling it, and not paying taxes on the proceeds. Back in college, the Explainer had friends who brewed their own beer, and that wasn't against the law. So why is moonshine still illegal? Because the liquor is worth more to the government than beer or wine. Uncle Sam takes an excise tax of $2.14 for each 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof spirits, compared with 21 cents for a bottle of wine (of 14 percent alcohol or less) and 5 cents for a can of beer. No one knows exactly how much money changes hands in the moonshine trade, but it's certainly enough for the missing taxes to make a difference: In 2000, an ATF investigation busted one Virginia store that sold enough raw materials to moonshiners to make 1.4 million gallons of liquor, worth an estimated $19.6 million in lost government revenue. In 2005, almost $5 billion of federal excise taxes on alcohol came from legally produced spirits."

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I'd like to think this was true, but this UK reporter doesn't live here. If the country would put my tribe in charge, then things would be much, much better.

"It may be daring to say it but America seems to be experiencing an atheist moment. Although 'In God We Trust' was declared the national motto by an act of Congress more than 50 years ago and has been stamped on the currency for longer than that, some considerable doubt has developed of late. If you look at the bestseller list over the last year, you'll find a number of books on atheism - to the surprise of the publishing industry."

" Yesterday (9/11) I was running errands in downtown. I had a lot on my mind and was not having the best day ever. After returning to my car 15 minutes after the meter expired, I expected to find a parking ticket. But no, in place of a parking ticket was a Rick James vinyl... SCORE! "